Labels And Companies Lazlo

In Discogs, a release's "label" is the overall brand that the
release is associated with. In this context, a brand is a consistent
marketing identity that is associated with multiple releases by one
or more artists.

Most brands (labels) have a name and an associated logo: a unique,
recognizable image or text treatment that appears in the same form on
multiple releases, and which often incorporates the brand (label) name.

Sometimes a brand (label) name is the same as the incorporated business
name of the company that owns it, but more often the brand (label) name
is a shorter version of that name, or completely unrelated to the
company name. For example:

The company General Motors Corporation releases items under the
Chevrolet,Cadillac and Buick brands.

The company Island Records, Inc. releases items on the
Island, Mango and 4th+B'Way labels.

A single brand (label) may be used by more than one actual company. For
example:

The Epic brand (label) is used by companies that include CBS
Records, CBS Disques S.A. and CBS United Kingdom Ltd..

From here on out, we'll just use the word label. When you see it,
keep thinking brand in the back of your head.

Following the words "Manufactured By", "Marketed By", "Distributed
By", etc. Again, these roles may be played by a record company,
but unless that company's branding also appears more prominently
somewhere else on the release, it should not be listed as the
release's label.

Verdict: The labels for this release are Higher Ground and Columbia.
Higher Ground does not appear on the spine, but the logos of both
companies appear on the back cover and CD label, and the fine print
refers to both companies in the context of a forthcoming release. Sony
Music Entertainment (UK) Ltd. is only the copyright holder. 44K 79140
should be listed as the catalog number for both labels.

Verdict: The label for this release is 4AD. The catalog number is in
Warner Bros. format because Warner Bros. distributed the release, but
Warner Bros. is not the release's label because their branding/logo is
not used.